When Cat Cora is not doing battle as the first female chef on the Food Network's hit series Iron Chef America, she is busy caring for the needs of her four active young sons. This includes monitoring the food they eat and their oral hygiene habits.

The busy chef, restaurateur, author, philanthropist and television personality recently revealed in an interview with Dear Doctor magazine that it all started when her four sons were little. She got rid of bottles and sippy cups as soon as possible to prevent tooth decay. She also started exposing her boys to a wide variety of spices and foods when they were infants — for example, by putting cinnamon in their baby cereal. Cat limits the amount of sugar in their diet by using fruit puree in baked goods and BBQ sauces, or the natural sugar substitute Stevia. Furthermore, Cat reports, “my kids have never had fast food.”

Cat is right on target with her approach to her children's oral health. In fact, we are often asked, when is the right time to schedule a child's first dental appointment? Our answer surprises some people — especially those expecting their first child.

The ideal time to take your child to the dentist is around age 1. Why so young? A baby's first visit to the dentist sets the stage for lifelong oral health. Besides, tooth decay can start very early. Baby Bottle Tooth Decay (BBTD), as the name suggests, impacts children who often go to sleep sipping a bottle filled with a liquid containing natural or added sugars, such as formula, fruit juice or a fruity drink mix. Another condition, Early Childhood Caries (ECC), is often found in children who continuously use sippy cups (again, filled with sugary liquids), children who breast feed at will throughout the night, children who use a sweetened pacifier, and children who regularly take sugar-based oral medicine to treat chronic illness.